Bell’s Hill Elementary teacher Eunice Caballero and her husband, Jose Antonio Caballero, are now U.S. citizens after taking their Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony recently in San Antonio.
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Our country, among other things, seems to be arguing about which lives matter.
Every life matters.
Black lives matter. Brown lives matter. LGBT lives matter. Women matter. Men matter.
Police matter. Americans matter.
All lives matter. We are all the same; from the same mold.
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Bell’s Hill Elementary teacher Eunice Caballero and her husband, Jose Antonio Caballero, are now U.S. citizens after taking their Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony recently in San Antonio. More than 500 people from 50 countries took part in that ceremony. Caballero is a Pre-K teacher at Bell’s Hill and has been a member of the faculty for five years. She recently received an American flag from the Daughters of the American Revolution recognizing her citizenship. — WACO ISD PHOTO

First Baptist Church Robinson, located at 104 S. McLendon Drive in Robinson, will celebrate its 150th Anniversary on Saturday and Sunday, September 10-11, 2016. Many activities are planned at the church and all are invited to attend.

Over the years FBC Robinson has been a faithful servant for the Robinson and McLennan County area. The church marches forward with the motto, “First Baptist Church Robinson is a welcoming church that glorifies God by spreading the gospel and serving in Christian love”.

For more information concerning the anniversary celebration, contact the church office at 254-662-6803

Franklin D. Roos­evelt said, “Only thing we have to FEAR is FEAR itself”.

FEAR is a distress­ing emotion aroused by impending dan­ger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Don’t misunder­stand me, danger is very real, but FEAR is a choice.
I know when I was asked to write this piece, I accepted the challenge imme­diately, then FEAR set in. FEAR said to me, “you can’t do this. It won’t be good enough; people will laugh at you.” I decid­ed to say to FEAR, “ I won’t know until I try”.

I have been rid­dled with FEAR my whole life. Interesting enough, my FEARS aren’t real. My FEARS have always been a projection of what could be, in my mind, and many times causing what could be, to actually BE.

One of my biggest FEARS has always been not being good enough. When faced with the task to dis­sect this FEAR, I found that I am taking away from who I am by allowing this FEAR to manifest and I am not being the me I am here to be.

I’ve learned that I have to be only my­self, everyone else is already taken.

I grew up in a church that had me in con­stant FEAR of God. I was told as a child about this place called HELL and if I didn’t behave, I would end up there-for eternity. I have found that MY God isn’t to be feared. My God is LOVE, GRACE, COMPAS­S I O N , H E A L I N G , and, more than any­thing– FORGIVING. I see FEAR being used as a tactic by ministers still today, if not more than ever. FEAR breeds nothing but negativity. FEAR breeds HATE!

I was also brought up to believe that it was wrong to hate. Hate was equivalent to any other four let­ter word and it wasn’t right. Today, I hear the word hate so many times a day and often wonder what has happened to us all.

I believe that un­derneath all this HATE is FEAR.

A little over a year ago, LGBT commu­nities all over the world celebrated marriage equality-not marriage spe­cial rights-but equal rights to be married. This made FEAR a very popular kid on life’s playground. People’s FEARS, unfortunately, mani­fested in many nega­tive and ugly forms-anger, resentment, and mostly hate.

How does a de­cision to be mar­ried, that two people make, whom you don’t even know, af­fect your life in any way, shape, or form?